A hat-trick to Port Kembla’s Sandy Lowcock has helped Port Kembla end Tarrawanna’s perfect start to their 2019 Illawarra Mercury Premier League campaign, running out 3-0 winners on Good Friday at Wetherall Park. Lowcock netted his first strike of the afternoon in the 24^th minute before grabbing two more goals in the 48^th and 57^th minutes to secure his first hat-trick of the season. The hosts’ afternoon was soured a little bit after William Mobbs was dismissed in the 58^th minute after picking up his second yellow card of the match but Port Kembla held firm, dealing Tarrawanna their first defeat of their 2019 campaign.

It was Port Kembla who grabbed a 1-0 victory over the Blueys the last time they faced in the league back in July 2018 and once again it appeared to be the hosts who looked to be on top of things in the opening stage of the match, with Port Kembla coming close to firing into the lead in the 23^rd minute after a header from Sandy Lowcock found Josh Crapis on the edge of the Tarrawanna box, allowing the midfielder to fire a first-time effort from range that was dutifully dealt with by Blueys gloveman Adam Rodriguez.

However, less than sixty seconds later the hosts managed to break through for the opening goal, with a quick ball from the backline finding Brad Acev just past the half-way line. Acev was quick to move the ball out to the left side of the field and find Sandy Lowcock, who managed to draw a pair of Blueys defenders before firing an effort past them and a diving Rodriguez to sneak into the bottom-left corner and give Port Kembla the lead.

With Tarrawanna’s undefeated start to the season now at stake, the Blueys began to play into the match more and the visitors came dangerously close to drawing level five minutes later after a simple chip from Keisuke Hayashi found the head of Haydyn Lloyd near the left post, but Lloyd was unable to direct his headed effort downward, nodding the ball over the crossbar and out of play.

The Blueys had another chance to pull level in the 39^th minute after a Hayashi corner found the head of Corey Horner, but Horner’s effort was deflected away amidst a scramble in the Port Kembla box, ensuring that Port Kembla entered the half-time break with a slim 1-0 lead.

However, Port Kembla managed to extend their lead within the opening three minutes of the second period of play, with another quick break seeing Sandy Lowcock get on the receiving end of a deep through ball. The Port Kembla forward made quick work of the effort, using an impressive amount of technical skill and speed to burst past a rushing Adam Rodriguez before sliding the ball into an empty net to double the hosts’ advantage.

Now two goals behind, Tarrawanna began to push more aggressively to seek a way back into the match and the side came close to pulling a goal back in the 56^th minute after a run from Rick Goodchild allowed the Blueys forward to fire an effort at goal which managed to be pushed away thanks to a good save by Chris Fuentes Ramirez. However, the Port Kembla custodian’s job was not over yet as the ball was only managed to be pushed away as far as Tarrawanna’s Keisuke Hayashi, but Hayashi failed to trouble the former Albion Park gloveman, mistiming his shot to smother all attempts of a follow-up Blueys strike.

But Port Kembla did not make the same mistake, utilizing their quick counter-attacking prowess to add their third goal of the afternoon, with another deep ball finding Sandy Lowcock deep in the Blueys half. Lowcock managed to work his effort past Tarrawanna shot-stopper Adam Rodriguez and secure his hat-trick, giving Port Kembla a handy 3-0 lead with just over half an hour remaining. However, their task became more difficult two minutes later after Port Kembla defender William Mobbs was dismissed due to receiving his second yellow card of the afternoon.

With a mini mountain to climb, Tarrawanna began to push more up-field to attempt to grab one goal back and this plan almost saw Port Kembla net their fourth goal of the match in the 69^th minute after Sandy Lowcock made yet another quick break down the left flank before firing an effort into the body of a diving Adam Rodriguez, causing the ball to sail into the air. Lowcock then attempted to net a spectacular strike through a quasi-bicycle kick, but his effort just scraped over the top of the Blueys crossbar, denying Lowcock from adding to his three-goal haul.

As the match headed towards the final whistle, Tarrawanna came close to pulling a goal back in the 81^st minute after a deep cross from substitute Liam Unicomb found the head of Stephen Lloyd in the box, but Lloyd was unable to direct his effort goalward, nodding the ball just to the right of the Port Kembla goal.

Tarrawanna fans could have been excused for thinking they had grabbed a consolation goal in the 85^th minute after a great through ball from Mitchell Ferraro found Liam Unicomb in the box, with the Blueys sub firing past Port Kembla’s Chris Fuentes Ramirez and into the back of the net, but the play was pulled back for offside, ensuring that the Blueys ended the game failing to find the back of the net for the first time in the league since a 1-0 loss to Albion Park White Eagles back in July 2018 and handing Port Kembla a solid 3-0 victory.

The result sees Port Kembla move into second place for the time being, however with both Corrimal Rangers and Wollongong Olympic still to play on Saturday, the side will be hoping they can remain in second place come the end of the Easter weekend. Meanwhile, Tarrawanna remain in the top spot for the time being despite the loss, but a win for Wollongong Olympic against Woonona on Saturday will see the side drop to 2^nd place by virtue of goal difference.

Port Kembla’s next challenge will be against Fernhill at Ray Robinson Field next Saturday, with the Foxes fresh off a 1-0 victory over Bulli on Thursday night while Tarrawanna will be hosting Wollongong United at Tarrawanna Oval next Sunday as they seek to return to winning ways.

Friday 19 April 2019 at Wetherall Park, Primbee

Port Kembla FC – 3 (Lowcock 24’, 48’, 57’)

Tarrawanna SC – 0

Port Kembla FC: Chris FUENTES RAMIREZ, William MOBBS, Nathan BELSITO, Karouna MICHEAL, Nobuaki MOCHIZUKI, Mitchell DI PIETRO, Joshua CRAPIS, Toni MUSUMICCI, Bradley ACEV, Sandy LOWCOCK, Fabian IACOVELLI

Subs: Jayden SALUCCI (LOWCOCK 79’), Luke BOERSMA (CRAPIS 63’), Dylan NIKOLOSKI, Bailey FLEMING (MICHEAL 88’), Daniel FARINA

Tarrawanna SC: Adam RODRIGUEZ, Matthew NAYLOR, Haydyn LLOYD, Corey HORNER, Jake MORLANDO, Mitchell FERRARO, Keisuke HAYASHI, Sam MUNRO, Stephen LLOYD, Rick GOODCHILD, Yusuke MARUYAMA

Subs: Liam UNICOMB (MARUYAMA 59’), Daniel CHAPMAN (MUNRO 28’), Cody WALLER, Jacob FRYDAY (MORLANDO 45’), Kaydin HARRISON

Referee – Bobby MAZEVSKI

Assistant Referees – Patrick HUTTON and Ethan ZVARGULIS

Report by Cal Behrendt, on Twitter @CalBehrendt

Phot courtesy of JC Sports Photography